Tuesday, 28 February 2017

LAST week, the historian Antony Beevor told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs last week that he may face five years in a Russian prison for his account of the rape of millions of German women by Stalin’s armies at the end of World War Two.

His account, which stated that two million German women were raped, could land him behind bars after Russia made it illegal to criticise the Red Army.Interviewed on Desert Island Discs, which will be broadcast on Radio 4 today, Sir Beevor said: 'Technically, I am liable to five years’ imprisonment if I go back.'The ambassador explained that the (Russian) victory was scared and obviously the appalling accounts of the rapes undermined the sacred element of the victory.'The military historian, 70, incurred the wrath of the Russian government by writing in his 2002 book, 'Berlin: The Downfall 1945', about the mass rape committed by Red Army troops in a defeated Germany. The historian, who failed A-level English and history at
Winchester College, chose Blondie song Union City Blue and Vivaldi’s Concerto
in C Major as two of his discs and Fathers And Sons by Ivan Turgenev as his
book.

Monday, 27 February 2017

Copeland
voters are most worried about jobs, their main employer is the
nuclear industry. They could see it had no future when a Chinese
company stopped negotiations for a local buy-out. That deal would
have been bad for our energy bill payers because we would have no
control over pricing such electricity. But it was the last hope of a
Government that will not commit another penny to

Sellafield.

Labour’s mistake: ignoring the job opportunities to replace that
industry; wind and tidal power, solar energy, heat extracted
from the ground and better use of methane. Also the thousands of long
term jobs needed to de commission such plants.

The nuclear industry
is paid for by taxation. But all that public money is only going to
in one direction, preventing “green economic growth”

BARONESS Chakrabarti has identified the distant region of Copeland in Cumbria, saying 'It's remote from London'. And the New York Times journalist, Kenan Malik tell us its 'near the Scottish border'.
The Baroness as the shadow attorney general, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said:''There
was a low turnout in Copeland and having been to Copeland recently, I
know that it's a very rural constituency, public transport is not
great.'
She continued to excuse the Labour Party suggesting: 'Copeland could in-part be explained by other
factors including bad weather, Labour voters being less likely to have a
car, low turnout, Brexit divisions, false claims about Mr Corbyn’s
views on nuclear power, and ill-treatment in the media.'
The metropolitan elite know it all!

Ryan Gosling star of La La Land elbowed out during upset at the Oscars

KEN Loach’s film
‘I, Daniel Blake’,
against expectation in the UK, failed to get nominated for an Oscar.

Why?I suspect that it was too plebian and didn’t
fit-in with the current sub-prime politics or the
now fashionable alphabetic
soup: LTBQI or the requirement for what one of my fellow workmates
in the local foundry use to call ‘a compulsory Coon’*. The day before the
Oscars were awarded, Damien Thompson in the Mail
on Saturday
predicted that ‘Moonlight’ ticks
‘every conceivable box, the story of
a black child – living in Miami with his crack-addicted mother
(Naomie Harris) – who grows up gay. Cue an examination of the
difficulties of homosexuality in the ghetto.’None-the-less, last year
theLos
Angeles Timesreported:‘Its another embarrassing Hollywood sequel: For
the second year in a row, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences has nominated an all-white group of acting nominees.‘In
2016, the
civil rights film ‘12-years
a Slave’ also
failed to land a slot on the director list, spurring the social-media
movement #OscarsSoWhite and a pledge from the academy to do better. This year, Price
Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), which has organised the Oscar balloting event for
the last 83-years, has had to apologise for mixing up the envelopes:‘We are currently investigating how this could
have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate
the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC and Jimmy Kimmel
handled the situation.’It is worth mentioning
that during
the Miner’s Strike of 1984-85, Price
Waterhouse Cooper was the company of accountants which did work for
the Thatcher government in tracking down the funds of the National
Union of Miners (NUM). The
Campaign for Press & Broadcasting Freedom has posted evidence
from Cabinet papers about the links between the security services MI5
and Price Waterhouse in the pursuit of NUM funds during the Miner’s
Strike:‘Government-backed legal action to seize
the £8.5 million that had been transferred to banks overseas was so
successful that law officers had to advise that a case involving the
sequestrators might have to be abandoned because of fears that the
scale of the surveillance would be revealed in open court.
‘Assisted by highly-accurate intelligence about the NUM’s
clandestine operation, chartered accountants Price Waterhouse managed
to freeze secret accounts in Luxembourg, Zurich and Dublin without
the union’s knowledge and before further withdrawals could be made.
‘When senior civil servants realised that evidence
of widespread telephone taps had leaked out to lawyers, the Cabinet
Secretary warned the Prime Minister that her government would have to
be careful.’

'PwC' would seem to have better at pursuing the NUM than managing the Oscars.
* A coon is a black actor or actress, who takes
roles that stereotypically portrays black people. They think theyve made
it but they are slaves to the same images.

I live in Rochdale. It’s not difficult to find people eager to give
you their opinion about our very own self-styled ‘Selfie Queen’, Karen
Danczuk formerly Karen Burke. Older people, and especially older ladies, tend to be less
than impressed by her past enthusiasm for flaunting her cleavage. Those
of a political bent use words like ‘deluded’ when talking about her
pretensions to becoming an MP and point to her not altogether successful
spell as a local councillor when she gained a reputation for being less
than assiduous in attending to some of her duties.

But never
have I come across anyone, nor do I expect to, who would suggest that
vandalising her car, or indeed any of her property, is acceptable
behaviour.

You do not have to be one of her Twitter
followers to empathise with Karen over the problem of damage to her car.
But that does not preclude us from taking a closer look at this story.

She is quoted as saying:'Since
trial I've had five attacks on car (slashed tyres, diesel, nails,
paintwork) I'm sure its coincidence but remember, I travel with two
boys.'

'These attacks are either linked to the trial or a
sheer coincidence. They are clearly targeted at me for whatever reason
and I can only speculate. 'But these incidents are another example of why victims are too scared to come forward. I
want to remind these people that I travel with two young boys and it is
putting their lives in danger as well as my own life.'

Now no
one can object to the last of these four statements. It is manifestly
true. But when I read the first three I began to wonder if we were not
seeing here the beginnings of a narrative into which every subsequent
happening could be fitted. Why mention ‘the trial’? Why mention a link
to ‘the trial’?
Why write ‘these incidents are another example of why
victims are too scared to come forward’?

I have seen this tactic
adopted before. It is what I complained about in 2014 in my Amazon
review of her ex-husband’s now discredited book‘Smile for the Camera’
where I wrote ‘The writing style adopted is to let the narrative drive
the evidence not the evidence drive the narrative.’

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3A7XZP51EW0A6

The problems which
arise when this approach to story telling is adopted are highlighted by
the fact that when Northamptonshire police investigated one of the
stories in ex-husband Simon’s book it was found to have no basis in
fact.

A good story was enough to get it a place in the book
because it fitted into the narrative the authors had constructed for
Cyril Smith.

Adam Simmonds, Northamptonshire Police and Crime
Commissioner, ended up asking for an apology from Danczuk and said
‘Everything in that book's got to be evidence-led and -based, otherwise
you are alerting people to the wrong information.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-33716982

Until
such time as the police arrest someone, he or she is convicted of
damaging Karen’s car and shown to have done it because they were
disgruntled about the outcome of ‘the trial’ I see no reason to fall in
line with Karen’s narrative.

It’s not the first time she has
tried to construct a narrative which suits the image of herself she is
keen to project. She tried to pull off the same trick in January when
on ‘Good Morning Britain’ the story was that her ‘prolific use of social
media is 100% linked to being abused as a child’. Evidence for this?
None! Just a bit of wishful thinking.

And how about the two year old story from February 2015,
‘Selfie-mad councillor Karen Danczuk is auctioning herself off this
Valentine's day’? What’s her excuse, sorry explanation, for this bit of
self publicity? Or the story of a similar vintage which informs us
that on first meeting her Harriet Harman told her 'You're too pretty to
be interested in politics and should be in Girls Aloud'

Karen’s attempts to construct a narrative to project a
particular image of herself will not doubt continue. But we don’t have
to buy into it. The findings of the court stand because they have been
tested under our adversarial system of justice. What Karen is quoted as
saying in the media and what she posts on Twitter have not, so we are
free to believe as much or as little as we like.

She seems to
me not to have ‘waived her right to anonymity’, but to have massacred
it. A figure of about £20,000 was mentioned in court for a newspaper
story from 2015 almost two years before the verdict. It was no doubt
coincidence that this story came out at much the same time as the
‘Valentine dinner’ and the Harman story. Whether the spate of post
trial media stories have been a ‘nice little earner’ I don’t
know, but I cannot help having noticed how often the images which
accompany them are attributed to agencies which are not unknown to the
Danczuk duo.

If Karen has any serious pretensions to a career in politics she
will stop trying to be famous and aiming to be a celebrity, drop her
smart phone in the canal and get a proper job.
I’m not holding my
breath.

Sunday, 26 February 2017

THIS week, Simon Danczuk the current MP for Rochdale, claimed in the Daily Mail that he met John Walker only
twice before Danczuk's book 'Smile for the Camera' was written and he said Mr. Walker had nothing to do
with the book - and so did not receive a donation from him or his colleague and co-author, Mr. Matthew Baker.
As a former journalist, Mr Walker had previously
worked for the Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP), which first exposed the then LibDem Rochdale politician Cyril Smith back in May 1979.
It ought to be noted that when Walker and his joint-editor David Bartlett made their revelations in RAP in 1979, they did so at great risk to themselves: their jobs were vulnerable, as they worked as lecturers for the local authority at a time when Cyril Smith had great local influence and he did take legal advice which produced a solicitor's letter but this only ultimately resulted in the threat of injunction against their paper RAP and some modest legal costs to them, which as anticipated frightened off the weak-kneed main-stream press. Only Private Eye went on to publish the story based on the RAP revelations.
Last week, following the dedication of a toilet block at a school Mr Walker, in a tongue-in-cheek gesture told the Daily Mail that he and his wife, Sandra, of the London-based Sohm Schools
Support had dubbed the facilities the 'Simon Danczuk Toilet Block' as part
of their programme to improve two schools in a tiny village in Gambia.
In an attempt to justify the £250 to Mr Walker's Charity rung out of the publisher, Mr. Danczuk told the Daily Mail this week:'... that Mr Walker was acknowledged in its foreword because of the part he played in helping uncover Smith's wrongdoing.'

But Mr
Danczuk said:

'I am sorry for Mr Walker
who is clearly confused about his involvement with authoring the book,
which evidently has contributed an awful lot to raising the issue of
child abuse and continues to help victims deal with their traumatic
past.'

Some doubts have now been thrown upon this Danczuk's story after Northern Voices' has contacted John Walker, who is still out in Gambia until March working for the Charity. It now seems that Mr. Walker had much more contact with Danczuk and Baker in to the run-up to the publication of their book.
Yesterday, John Walker confirmed 'I certainly met Danczuk 4 times'.
Mr. Walker then went on to detail the four occassions on which they met in the run-up to the publication of Danczuk's book: 1 - at my request, in the Strangers' Bar of
the House of Commons, to discuss my idea of a book. He consumed rather a
lot to drink over a couple of hours - so I can understand if this
meeting slipped his memory. This would be Nov
2012.

2 - at his request, in his tax/payer funded
Pimlico flat, in the week between Xmas and New Year, to discuss my
draft outline for the book.

3 - at his request. 10 days later in Portcullis house, Westminster, to discus the book with the literary agent he found.

4
- at his request, and my cost, a meeting in his Rochdale office to
discuss how "Matthew Baker" could line up local contacts to be
interviewed for the book. (Brian, you will remember this, as we
met for a meal and drink afterwards.)
Basically, Danczuk and Baker had decided to go ahead without me, and
effectively told me so. Thus wasting a day of my time and travel costs
to Rochdale (unlike Danczuk, whose fares are met by the taxpayer, I
footed my own bill).
This account would seem to be enough to discredit the Danczuk story in itself as Mr. Walker and Rochdale's Alternative Paper is regarded with great respect in, but there is also evidence of indirect contact through the former Westminster blogger, Paul Waugh. Two of the young inmates from Cambridge House, Barry Fitton and Edward Sharrock, both complainants who Danczuk referred to by in his speech in the House of Commons when he first took up this cause in November 2012, were provided for him through the good offices of Mr Walker and Northern Voices.

The report below is taken directly from the whistle-blower, Alan Wainwright's Blog. (Editor)

Thanks to Roy Bentham, Tony Seaman and the lads at Unite's Liverpool and Teeside branches for kick starting the fighting fund for the legal work to expose Paul Raby, Gerry Harvey and all the other blacklisters at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited (BBESL).I've
just learned that the entire electrical workforce (some 400 plus) at
BBESL's Capenhurst project have passed a motion to support my claim
against their employer and collections will start this week. It is hoped
that the mechanical (some 200 plus) will follow shortly.Thank you to everyone who made this happen.

The report below is taken from Alan Wainwright's Blog, which we publish without comment. It suggests that a case brought by Alan Wainwright is having serious consequences for the Balfour Beatty high command, and that some of them are now jumping ship:

GERRY HARVEY - BALFOUR BEATTY

Key
evidence on prolific blacklister, Gerry Harvey was specifically
highlighted by Regional Employment Judge, Barry Clarke in his
judgment.Other
very notable Balfour Beatty senior managers and directors involved
are:Vikki
Skene - Leaves Balfour Beatty after ten years to join Galliford Try
only a few months before the preliminary hearing.Jemma
Wilkinson - Also leaves Balfour Beatty after ten years to join
Pricewaterhouse Coopers only a few months before the preliminary
hearing.Alastair
Green - National Labour Manager also leaves Balfour Beatty after
twenty two years to join Imtech only a few weeks before the
preliminary hearing.For more go to: http://www.alanwainwright.blogspot.co.uk

Saturday, 25 February 2017

ON Saturday 11 March 2017, 1pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street,
Wakefield both Granville Williams and Bob Mitchell will be speaking
about the Spanish Civil War at an event organised by Wakefield Socialist
History Group. Admission is free and all are welcome. Below are some
comments about the organisation POUM.

POUM was formed in 1935 by a fusion of the Trotskyist Communist Left
of Spain (ICE) and the quasi-Trotskyist Workers and Peasants' Bloc
(BOC). It was led by Andreu Nin and Joaquin Maurin.
It took an independent communist position (it was anti-Stalinist) and
was critical of the Popular Front strategy. So much so that communists
denounced it in the most vehement terms. Santiago Carrillo for
instance went "down the road of linking POUM to the Francoists" (Preston
2014).
Despite this POUM did participated in the Popular Front government
initiated by Manuel Azana, leader of Accion Republicana, in the hope of
advancing some of its' own policies.
In 1937 however POUM was repressed during the Barcelona May Days. It
was outlawed by central government and its' leaders arrested. Nin
himself was detained, tortured and "disappeared" by NKVD agents.
Carrillo (1977) wrote that POUM and anarchists had launched a
"putsch" which was "treason." But Nin's death was an "abominable and
unjustifiable act."
POUM remained proscribed during the Franco years but was legalised in
1977. POUM then split but part of it stood as the Workers' Unity Front
in elections, demanding the restoration of a republic.
It was finally wound up in 1980/81 although there is still an Andreu Nin Foundation.
Orwell famously joined the POUM militia and wrote of it in his book HOMAGE TO CATALONIA.

Lucy Parker and City Projects have been
working on the film Blacklist for over two years. We have raised £28,000
towards production so far and we need a further £12,000 by the end of
February to go into production, to make a work that will do justice to
the research and that will be able to adequately draw attention to the
blacklist case.

There
will be a special screening for all donors with guest speakers, and so a
£10 donation can be seen as a ticket to this event. Please donate
today! Larger or smaller donations also welcome.

Follow the link at www.blacklistfilm.co.uk to make a donation, and please tick the gift aid section if you are an individual UK tax payer to give us an additional 25%.

Whilst we would prefer that this
film was publicly funded, we have exhausted art and film funds, as the
former has few options and the subject matter is too political for the
latter. The film has relevance to all of us, looking at the immediate
effects and wider implications of the construction industry blacklist.
It will introduce new audiences to the blacklist case and be made freely
available to campaigning groups.

We have so far received funding
from the Arts Council England, Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust
and from many Unite and Unison union branches, and individual donations.
We have also received funding and support from Jerwood Space and
Rhubaba Gallery during the research phase.

'Last year she bravely waived her right to anonymity to talk about
being raped by her brother between the ages of nine and 11 to
encourage other survivors of sexual abuse to speak out.Burke, 38, was jailed in December after being convicted of eight
counts of rape and one other serious sexual offence against Ms
Danczuk and two other women following a trial.'
All this will help her to continue to create an image of an heroic public figure, and to counter those malcontents who have merely sought to present the lively lass as a trollop and a tart.
Everyone who has sat in the council chamber at Rochdale Town Hall while she was a councillor for Kingsway Ward, will have seen how fine a figure she cuts working-her-fingers-to-the-bone on her Twitter Account, while at the same time dealing with council business.
Talk about multi-tasking!
There's few better!
You never know Karen!
With the Labour Party in such a present state of disorientation, and now seems to be utterly frightened to death of even expelling her disorderly ex-husband Simon Danczuk for bringing the party in to disrepute.
It's just possible given the crazy world we live in that the party may even end up expelling Jeremy Corbyn and crowning Mr. Danczuk as its new leader. In such circumstances Karen may get her wish to be an Honarable Member for somewhere or other. In a Tweet today she says: 'anything can happen in politics!!' .Karen DanczukVerified account‏@KarenDanczuk14h14 hours ago

Never thought I'd be waking up to see Labour hold #StokeCentral Just shows, anything can happen in politics!! KD

REPORTS suggest that Jeremy Corb, the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn is coming under more pressure to pack it in, as the results of the defeat of Labour in Copeland in Cumbria began to circulate. Meanwhile in Stoke Central in Staffordshire, Gareth Snell defeated Paul Nuttall by 7,853 votes to 5,233, giving him a majority of 2,620.
Looking like death-warmed-up Jeremy Corbyn this morning told Sky News that Labour is in 'good heart' despite losing a safe seat ibn Cumbria to the Tories. The Copeland constituency
is an area held by the party since 1935.
Mr Corbyn told Sky when asked whether he would step down: 'I
was elected to lead this party, to oppose austerity and oppose the
redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction, which is what this
Government is doing.'

Jeremy Corbyn has claimed
Labour is in 'good heart' despite losing a safe seat to the Tories, in
an area held by the party since 1935.

The Labour grassroots group Momentum this morning said the loss of
Copeland was the 'result of 40 years of neglect by political
establishment. Labour must win back the trust of those who have been
left behind.'
Mr Corbyn said last night that the party needed to do more to
reconnect with voters.

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

SINCE the infamous case of the “Rochdale Seven”
- the expulsion of seven Labour members over their complaints about
Danczuk’s suitability as a candidate which was triggered by his then
girlfriend Karen Burke being dumped at Alicante Airport with no money
and two small children to look after - Danczuk has had the backing of
his local Labour party, duly rubber-stamped by the national
organisation.

But after he was suspended following the revelation of his “sexting”
a 17-year-old girl just over a year ago, the cracks started to appear.
When it came to nominating a Labour candidate for the new post of Metro
Mayor for Manchester, Danczuk’s backers tried to keep front-runner Andy
Burnham out of the constituency. They failed: Burnham got to address
local party members, and Rochdale CLP then backed him.

So
it should have surprised no-one last week, at Rochdale CLP’s AGM, that
Simon Danczuk’s friends and apologists got what the Norwegian football
commentator memorably called “One hell of a beating”. Apart from
the position of treasurer, which none of Spanker Si’s detractors wanted
to contest, every other post up for grabs was secured by someone who
wants Danczuk out of Rochdale Labour politics.

Every last post on the CLP taken away from what is referred to in a tone more serious than outsiders might imagine as “The Danczuk mafia”.
Another prop kicked away from an MP who still fantasises about being
let back into a party which gives every sign of not wanting anything
more to do with him. And it gets worse - a lot worse.

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

In February 1937, an idealistic and ungainly Englishman in his
thirties traveled to Spain to take his place in the trenches at the
Aragón front to defend
the Republic. His name was Eric Arthur Blair, remembered by
history as George
Orwell. This month, 80 years after the start of that adventure,
Richard Blair, the writer’s only son, now a 72-year-old retired
agricultural engineer, visited Huesca to take part in the opening of
a major exhibition about his father.

TALKING to EL PAÍS during his brief stopover in Madrid on his way
back to London, Richard Blair evoked the figure of Orwell and commented on
the relevance of his legacy and the enormous interest in his final
novel, 1984, which has become an international best-seller
since Donald Trump
became US president.“It’s true that in recent weeks, with the references in the
United States to ‘alternative facts’ [cited by Kellyanne Conway,
one of the president’s top advisors], there has been increased
interest in his book. But my father has never gone out of fashion.”
The book was not so much a prophecy as a fable about Nazi and
Stalinist totalitarianism, says Blair, although as he points out,
some details from the novel that once seemed like science fiction
have been part of our everyday life for some time, such as security
cameras that watch our movements, or what some companies know about
us from our internet activity, or how we use our credit cards.
“Society has evolved toward what he saw. The world is becoming
Orwellian,”he says.Blair is patron of the Orwell society, a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to spreading knowledge about the life and work
of the writer, as well as debate about ideas, and that remains
scrupulously neutral about politics. Which might explain why he is so
careful in choosing his words when talking about Trump.“I think that there is a lot of tension and compression in the
White House right now. It is true that Trump is attacking the press,
but he is a complete enigma, they are all maneuvering and learning to
live with each other,” he says.
Nevertheless, he says he cannot help but be happy at the hike in
sales of his father’s books, particularly as he inherited the
publishing rights (“which expire in 2020,” he points out). But he
recognizes concerns that this has been due to the public finding
parallels between the current situation and the dystopia Orwell
described.
Orwell and his wife Eileen adopted Richard in 1944. Ten months
later, Eileen died on the operating table. Some of the friends of the
tuberculous-stricken writer suggested that he give up custody of the
child but he ruled out the possibility. The relationship between
Orwell and his adopted son became closer when the two of them moved
to the Scottish island of Jura, chosen because it was a healthier
location for Orwell to overcome his illness and where it was so cold
that “if you move six feet away from the fireplace, you freeze.”
Blair’s memories from those days are of a loving father who made
wooden toys, who had a strange sense of humor, and whose parenting
style had none of the political correctness of modern upbringings. On
one occasion he allowed the three-year-old Richard to smoke from a
pipe filled with tobacco collected from his cigarette butts. The
result, aside from a vomiting fit, was that the child saw himself
temporarily vaccinated against the vice of smoking.
It was on Jura that Orwell finished 1984, writing in his
room during the day and spending the evenings with the child. One of
their favorite activities was fishing, especially for the lobsters
that filled out a diet otherwise made frugal by post-war rationing.
One weekend in August 1947, however, on a journey back from a weekend
of relaxation on the west side of Jura, their boat sank and they
almost drowned. Blair says Orwell’s health suffered as a result.
David Astor, owner of The Observer newspaper, which
published the writer’s work, asked to be allowed import the newly
discovered antibiotic streptomycin from the United States, with which
he was treated between December 1947 and July 1948 in a hospital near
Glasgow. But his efforts were in vain: Orwell developed an allergy to
the medication. “His nails fell out and blisters appeared on his
lips,” Richard recalls. The writer died in January 1950 at age of
46, when his son was about to celebrate his sixth birthday.
What is the most important lesson that Orwell taught us? For
journalists, says Blair, there are many. “To be honest. The most
important things are facts which can be corroborated, not reality as
you want it to be. Journalists today do not have time to check facts,
and errors are perpetuated and multiplied on the internet until they
become true.” The writer’s son also recalls Orwell’s six rules
for clear writing from his 1946 essay Politics and the English
Language. “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of
speech that you are used to seeing in print; Never use a long word
where a short one will do; If it is possible to cut a word out,
always cut it out; Never use the passive where you can use the
active; Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon
word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; Break any of
these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.”
Blair finished up with his father’s definition of liberty: “If
liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what
they do not want to hear.”
Blair is particularly concerned about the lack of dialogue in
contemporary society. “All people do is shout at one another,
without actually listening.” And he is surprised to see young
people who, instead of speaking face to face, spend all day staring
into their smartphones. “Even couples in restaurants! Are they
communicating with each other via text messages?!” he jokes. And
what would Orwell make of the 21st century, the era of the internet,
great scientific advances and post-truth?“Ah, now that’s the million-dollar question. But it’s
impossible to get into anyone’s head. Nor to come up with the
answer by reading his books. If he were still alive he would be 113,
and would have had a lot of new influences… There’s no point in
speculating.” As such, we don’t know, and we can’t know. But he
does go as far as to assume one thing: whatever his thoughts, they
would be characterized by common sense.

Monday, 20 February 2017

THREE paintings in the style of Lawrence Stephen Lowry by the Bolton artist Shaun Greehalgh, beat their reserve prices when they went on sale at the Bolton Auction Rooms today. People at the auction rooms reported that the pictures were bought after a bitter series of telephone bids came in.
The reserve prices in the auction house catalogue was given as £1,000-£2,000 in the case of each painting.
On the day, a spkesman for the auction house told Northern Voices that one of the paintings went for £5,700, and the other two went for £5,100.
Shaun Greenhalgh was born in 1961, and became famous after the British Museum examined some of his work before two of his reliefs were submitted to Bonhams auction auction house in 2005, its antiquities consultant Richard Falkiner spotted 'an obvious fake'. Then Bonhams consulted with the British Museum about various suspicious aspects, and the Museum then spotted several unlikely anomalies.The Greenhalgh's family became known as the 'the garden shed gang'. They built up an elaborate cottage industry at Shaun's parents' house in The Crescent, Bromley Cross, South Turton, which is north of Bolton town centre.[
Shaun Greenhalgh had left school at 16 with no qualifications. A self-taught artist, he had been influenced by his job as an antiques dealer, he worked up his forgeries from sketches, photographs, art books and catalogues. He attempted a wide range of crafts, from painting in pastels and watercolours, to sketches, and sculpture, both modern and ancient, busts and statues, to bas-relief and metalwork. He invested in a vast range of different materials - silver, stone, marble, rare stone, replica metal, and glass. He also did meticulous research to authenticate his items with histories and provenance (for instance, faking letters from the supposed artists) in order to demonstrate his ownership. Completed items were then stored about the house and garden shed. The latter probably served as a workshop as well.
Shaun's father, George Greenhalgh, who fronted as the sales operation of the fakes – produced by Shaun, died in October 2014 at the age of 91.
Since his Dad died, Shaun Greenhalgh has produced several paintings in the style of Lowry which went on sale in Bolton today, and bringing more than double their reserve price.
The three successful pictures at the auction included 'Going to work'; 'Coming from the mill'; and 'Before kick off', all framed oil on canvas after L.S.Lowry, and painted by Shaun Greenhalgh in 2015.

ComradesWakefield
Socialist History Group are holding a SPANISH CIVIL WAR event on
Saturday 11 March, 1-4pm at the Red Shed (Wakefield Labour Club),
Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 1QX.
The speakers are:
*Granville Williams (Granville is the editor a new book, THE FLAME
STILL BURNS: THE CREATIVE POWER OF COAL. He is on the National
Committee of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom).
*Bob Mitchell (Bob is a former councillor and former Mayor of
Wakefield. He has a particular interest in poetry and the Spanish Civil
War).
Admission is free. There will be free light snacks. Plus there is a bar with excellent real ale.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Grouphttp://georgeorwell.org/SpanishCivilWar.htm

THE Judge, Sir Christopher Pitchford, involved in the Pitchford Inquiry into undercover policing used to infiltrate trade unions and left-wing groups in England since the 1960s, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

This means he will eventually have to stand down from the complex and already-delayed probe.

It is said that this has not yet affected his running of the inquiry so far - although the judge's physical symptoms have been becoming apparent.

The home secretary has been asked to appoint another judge to work alongside Sir Christopher and succeed him when he ultimately stands down.

The inquiry is already well behind schedule because of a complex legal dispute with Scotland Yard over how many former officers from the controversial unit at the heart of some of the allegations ought to give evidence.

This fall-out is expected to come to a head in a public hearing later in the spring which is expected to still take place with Sir Christopher at the helm.

Sunday, 19 February 2017

IT's great news that I've now had notification from Unite that we
have have passed the 50 nominations threshold - so I will be on the
ballot paper. With this notification came a list of the nominations they
have accepted. Your own was not on this list.

If you haven't yet sent off your nomination, please do so without delay -
if they aren't received by Wednesday they won't count. For branches,
the best way to submit the nomination is online - either using a link in
the email sent to branch secretaries on 13
January, or the codes on the letter you received. Workplaces have to do
it by post.

Saturday, 18 February 2017

We mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Jarama when the
International Brigades helped stop Franco’s advance on Madrid during the
Spanish Civil War. What made local people up sticks and fight for
democracy and socialism in another country? What was the background to
this international conflict? Find out more about the passion and
sacrifice of the young volunteers of the International Brigades and
their supporters both here and in Spain.

Stephen Armstrong, author of The Road to Wigan Pier Revisited, marks
the 80th birthday of Orwell’s original book with this fascinating talk
about Eric Blair (George Orwell) and his writing. Orwell researched his
book in the old reference library, now the Museum of Wigan Life, and his
work has sometimes been controversial in the town. Armstrong examines
the context in which Orwell wrote and his approach to social reportage.
Come along and find out more about Wigan’s relationship with one of the
20th century’s most important writers.

Our thanks to Community History Manager Lynda Jackson in Wigan for the details.

Friday, 17 February 2017

CELEBRATED CONTEMPORARY VERSION OF EARLIEST GREEK DRAMA REINVENTED IN MANCHESTER

Royal Exchange Theatre, Actors Touring Company and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh present

THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN

By Aeschylus in a new version by David Greig
Directed by Ramin Gray; Composer John Browne; Choreographer Sasha Milavic Davies

10 March - 1 April - The Theatre

Press Night: Tuesday 14 March, 7.30pm

THIS spring the Royal Exchange Theatre sees one of the world’s oldest dramas play out on its unique stage. THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN by Aeschylus, in a new version by the multi award-winning writer David Greig,
is an extraordinary theatrical event featuring, at its heart, a chorus
of forty women and men from across Greater Manchester arguing for their
lives. Reimagined for the Exchange by director Ramin Gray
(Artistic Director of the Actors Touring Company) this production has
been beautifully reworked for this in-the-round space and, following its
original critically-acclaimed production in 2016, is remade for and
with the people of Greater Manchester.

Written 2,500 years ago THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN has startling resonance for
2017, reflecting major issues of contemporary society. Suppliant means
‘asylum seeker’ and the play explores issues of migration and democracy,
gender politics and political power. The Royal Exchange Theatre, Actors Touring Company and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

present 'THE SUPPLIANT WOMEN' from 10 March – 1 April.

A group of women leave everything behind to board a boat in North Africa
and flee across the Mediterranean. They are escaping forced marriage in
their homeland, hoping for protection and assistance, seeking asylum in
Greece.

The forty-strong Chorus is a diverse mix of talented and passionate
volunteers from across Greater Manchester who have been working with the
company to create the power and energy of a Greek chorus. They perform
alongside Oscar Batterham, Omar Ebrahim and Gemma May Rees.

The production features new music by composer John Browne who has
used the ancient Greek instrument the aulos (likely to have been used
in the original production 2,500 years ago) to create a beautiful and
unique sound for the production, clashing ancient sounds with
contemporary composition for a 2017 chorus and audience.

KEN Loach's film 'I, Daniel' Blake'* was been overlooked in the 2017 Oscar nominations. The picture which was filmed in Newcastle, and starred the Geordie comedian, Dave Johns, had been expected to grab the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science.
Since winning the Palme d’Or at last year's Cannes Film Festival, two awards at the British Independent Film
Awards (Dave Johns for Best Actor and co-star Hayley Squires for Most
Promising Newcomer), last Sunday the film got five Bafta
nominations.
It got Best Film - where it will be up against the all
singing, all dancing and very lovely La La Land among others - and
Outstanding British Film, the list of Bafta possibilities also
includes Best Director for Ken Loach, Best Original Screenplay for
Paul Laverty and Best Supporting actress for the aforementioned
Hayley Squires.
So, you can see why everyone expected the film, which tells the terrifying tale of two people thwarted by the bureaucractic British Benefit's system, to be among those read out during the big reveal of the
nominations, which came direct from Los Angeles last Tuesday afternoon.Jessica Cripps discussing I, Daniel Blake‘s
controversial exclusion from the Oscars on'epigram' wrote: 'Successful cinema leaves an
impact on its audiences. I,
Daniel Blakereached
parliament when MP Jeremy Corbyn recommended Prime Minister May watch
the film as an example of the government’s ‘institutionalised
barbarity.'She concludes by saying:'The gritty realism may have failed to create a buzz in Hollywood,
but the honesty has touched the hearts of audiences worldwide; it
lives on in political ripples rather than in an Academy Award.'* The indie winner: I, Daniel Blake
It won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, comes from a beloved British
auteur and has garnered critical acclaim, but would Ken
Loach’s I, Daniel Blake prove too tough a sell for cinema
audiences? If UK distributor eOne had any qualms, they have surely
evaporated now that I, Daniel Blake has opened with an impressive
£404,000 from 94 cinemas, and £445,000 including previews.
Stripping out the previews, site average is a very robust £4,298.

Monday, 13 February 2017

ASSISTANT Chief Constable Debbie Ford (Published on ROCHDALE ONLINE: 8/2/2017) said: “We launched Operation
Clifton in July 2014 in response to a request by the Home Office to
investigate allegations of a criminal cover up of non-recent sexual
abuse at Knowl View School.
“GMP was asked to carry out this huge undertaking after a QC-led
inquiry, on behalf of Rochdale Council, uncovered potential criminal
offences.
“GMP undertook a two year investigation and committed a team of 15
staff led by a dedicated Senior Investigating Officer. Three independent
advisory group members also oversaw the investigation to provide
external scrutiny and challenge.
“Operation Clifton was a lengthy and detailed investigation which has
been undertaken by dedicated staff who collated and examined a large
volume of information to ensure that the right conclusions could be
drawn. Having undertaken this work I can confirm that there will be no
criminal charges brought under Operation Clifton.
“Furthermore the investigation concluded that there was no evidence of
corruption or attempts to cover up the allegations to protect offenders
or organisations’ reputation.
“I am grateful for the commitment and effort of the team involved.
“The documentation and findings of Operation Clifton have been
submitted to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) who
will now review them over the coming months.”

We the undersigned are outraged at the news that despite court orders to the contrary, the Metropolitan Police Service has destroyed evidence required for use in the Undercover Policing Public Inquiry. State spying on trade unions and political campaigns is a human rights scandal that affects millions of British citizens.

Despite continued reassurances, the Pitchford Inquiry has failed to secure the documents that will be central to the investigation. Trade union core participants are beginning to question whether the Inquiry team has the ability to stop the police from obstructing the pursuit of justice. Lord Justice Pitchford needs to act now to restore our faith.

We are calling on Lord Justice Pitchford to announce an urgent Inquiry hearing to examine the destruction of evidence by the police. The Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe should be forced to give evidence under oath to explain why, how and under whose authority documents have been destroyed.

Lord Justice Pitchford needs to take immediate measures to secure all documentation held by the police, in order to prevent future destruction and avoid the entire inquiry descending into a hugely expensive cover-up on the part of the Metropolitan Police.

ONCE upon a time I had a holiday job working in a Nottingham
supermarket. I fondly remember one particular day I did nothing but stick
individual adhesive price labels on hundreds of boxes of Cornflakes. Nowadays
shops programme prices into a computerised system that ultimately prints out
individual bill-receipt at the till. This
Universal Product Coding (UPC) places a legal obligation on shops to ensure
that the prices displayed on shelves are identical to those applied at the
till. As price alterations are almost invariably upwards staff must assiduously
replace old shelf prices otherwise all customers at that store are
systematically overcharged. Overcharging
continues until a customer finally notices and insists on rectification. When items were individually priced it was
simple to see if the price displayed on the till conformed with that on the
item but UPC makes it much easier for shops to get away with overcharging and
of course its in their financial interest to do so and my local, Llandudno, Marks
& Spencer food department is a serial offender.

Over the last year I have been overcharged in this way on at
least ten occasions, most recently yesterday (8.2.2017) and on the previous
occasion just two weeks ago. I also shop
locally at ASDA and ALDI, the latter never overcharge and the former very, very
seldom but Llandudno Marks & Spencer with deplorable
regularity. Even if you spot an
overcharge you are required to go to another part of the store to a “Customer
Service Counter” this is usually unmanned and you’re expected to wait
until a passing assistant stops to help. Usually I have to find someone myself to
complain to. Then you are required to
empty out your shopping until the overcharged item(s) are located. The assistant will then disappear to find the
appropriate shelf price label before belatedly returning to admit that you have
indeed been overcharged. Then the overcharge
will be dismissed as an isolated incident. You are meant to feel grateful when you
eventually get back the amount you were overcharged however if you paid by card
then you are first required to produce it so the sum can be credited back on
your account. All the trouble and
inconvenience is suffered by the customer whilst all illicit profit accrues to Marks
& Spencer who, of course, have no system in place to recompense all
those shoppers who previously paid the inflated price.

On every occasion I notice an overcharge I endure this
tiresome ritual. I’ve informed M&S HQ of this practice and on
each occasion, always ask to speak a manager. I’ve also requested a
“customer comment book” to formally record these incidents but I’ve
been told none exists and each time I’m presented with a different “acting
store manager”.Invariably they
claim ignorance and insist the store does not consciously overcharge but the
regularity of such incidents evidences culpability. Utterly exasperated after
the previous (January 2017) overcharge I left my contact details with “Craig” and requested that the store
manager offer me an explanation of this continued discreditable performance. The manager did not have the courtesy to
reply.

I could of course confine my shopping to Asda
and Aldi
but I’m now determined to challenge M&S overcharging. Sometimes the store makes a gesture to deflect
criticism (on the last occasion a bottle of wine) but this is not general
practice. I have now informed “Trading Standards” of this lamentable
story but in truth UK law is predictably lax although both Tesco and Sainsburys
have in the past been fined for overcharging. In Connecticut customers overcharged are
legally obliged to be given the item free not merely a refund of the excess
charge. Overcharging then costs the
stores money whereas, perversely, M&S Llandudno profits by not
giving this matter due care and attention.